Electric indicia embossing machine

ABSTRACT

An electric indicia embossing machine comprising a main cam shaft having an embossing wheel assembly, a planetary gear mechanism, an embossing cam and a brake cam. An electric motor continuously rotates the main cam shaft and an indicia selection section is provided for selecting a particular indicia to be embossed and for stopping the main cam shaft in a position for embossing the selected indicia. An indicia embossing section embosses the selected indicia on an intermittently fed web material.

United States Patent Tsukamoto et al.

[451 Aug. 26, 1975 [54] ELECTRIC INDICIA EMBOSSING 3372.787 3/1968 Humphrey et al. l97/6.7 MACHXNE 3.548993 12/1970 Behrens et al. t l v. l97/l8 3,625,330 l2/l97l Mannofi l. l97/6.4 175] Inventors: Hideo Tsukamoto. Tokyo; Katsumi 3 64 477 5 1972 Br mer h 197/6,7 Otsuka, Funabashi; Miyagi Tamura, 3768.619 10/1973 Lewis 197/64 Togane; Koji Kondo, lchikawa; Kosaku Yoshisawa, Chiba, all of OTHER PUBLICATIONS Japan C. A. Foot, Keyboard and 1 Print Wheel Entry", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 5. No. 2, July [73] Assigneez New Kon Industrial Co., Ltd., [962,

Tokyo, Japan 22 Filed; 7 1974 Primary Examiner-Clifford D. Crowder Assistant ExaminerWilliam Pieprz [211 Appl' 43l022 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Frank .1. Jordan [52] US. Cl. 197/6.6; 197/67; 197/18 [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. 841,] 23/1 An electric indicia embossing machine comprising a [58} Fldd of Search l. [97/18, (L4, 6.5, 6.7, main cam shaft having an embossing whee] assembly, {97/66 a planetary gear mechanism, an embossing cam and a brake cam. An electric motor continuously rotates the [56] References C'ted main cam shaft and an indicia selection section is pro- UNITED STATES PATENTS vided for selecting a particular indicia to be embossed 1.954373 4 1934 walker [97 13 and for stopping the main cam shaft in a position for 2 845 019 7/1958 Sticfcl l t 197/18 embossing the selected indicia. An indicia embossing 1870,89? 1/1959 Hubl l s l 4 [97/18 section embosses the selected indicia on an intermit- 3 205,305 9/1965 Clark et a1. l 4 197/18 tenuy f d web materiaL 1239,0 18 3/1966 Bogeans llllllll 197/67 0 D 3.362.5l7 1/1968 Ryan ct al .6 197/18 5 Claims, 12 Drawing Flgul'es B f r J 20 29 1 v 4r 1] 1 -r l 20 7 l 27 i 1 J0 16 J h 44 44 g l 44 49 f 28 1 Z64 2 (I 21 266 "i J 4 6, \9 a, l n 4 2s 25 \9 23 9 l 26a 10' 15 '4? L V 'fi ELECTRIC INDICIA EMBOSSING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an electric indicia embossing machine and more particularly, to an automatic indicia embossing machine for embossing a selected indicia on an intermittently fed web material such as a synthetic tape film or paper, for example.

There have been proposed and employed a variety types of indicia embossing machines, but all the prior art indicia embossing machines are invariably manually operated. Thus, the indicia embossing operation in the prior art embossing machines is time consuming and inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved electric indicia embossing machine in which the embossing operation can be substantially automatically performed on a continuous web material upon manual depression of a selected push button bearing a particular indicia such as a letter, numeral or other symbol.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved indicia embossing machine which can substantially automatically emboss a selected indicia such as a letter, numeral or other indicia on an intermittently fed web material such as a synthetic resin tape, film or paper.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved indicia embossing machine in which when one of a plurality of indicia bearing push buttons is selectively depressed down, a flexible wheel assembly which is continuously rotated and has areas bearing indicia corresponding to those of the push buttons, respectively is stopped in the position where a area of a wheel bearing the same indicia as that on the selected push button is located in the indicia embossing position and then the wheel area is flexed against a web material with a sufficient force to emboss the selected indicia on the tape.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an electric indicia embossing machine comprising a main shaft having an embossing wheel assembly, a planetary gear mechanism, an embossing cam and a brake cam. An electric motor is operatively connected to the main cam shaft for continuously rotating the main cam shaft. An indicia selection section is provided for selecting a particular one of a plurality of indicia to be embossed and for stopping the main cam shaft in a position for embossing the selected indicia. An indicia embossing section embosses the selected indicia on an intermittently fed web material.

The above and other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment of an electrically operated indicia embossing machine constructed in accordance with the present invention for illustration purpose only, but not for lim iting the scope of the same in any way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment ofan electrically operated indicia embossing machine of the invention with a cover and an array of push button pin assemblies removed therefrom in order to show the inner structure of the machine;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinally sectional view of the embossing machine taken along the line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the machine;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing an embossing cam and its associated parts as incorporated in the embossing machine;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 2 showing the relationship between the array of push button pin assemblies and a main cam shaft;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view in cross-section of a planetary gear mechanism incorporated in the embossing machine;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing the embossing cam and a brake cam in one operational position;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary front elevational view similar to FIG. 7, but showing the embossing cam and brake cam in a different operational position;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of an embossing wheel assembly incorporated in the embossing machine;

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a tape guide plate and the embossing wheel assembly in their embossing position;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the tape guide and embossing wheel assembly; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the entire indicia embossing machine.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be now described referring to the accompanying drawings which show one preferred embodiment of the invention for illustration purpose only. In these Figures, reference numeral 1 denotes the machine frame of the indicia embossing machine of the invention and an electric motor 2, an embossing mechanism 3 and a tape feed mechanism 4 are suitably mounted on the machine frame I. A top cover 45 (FIGS. 2 and 9) is provided over the embossing mechanism 3 and provided with a plurality of holes in rows for receiving a plurality of depressible push buttons 5 which, upon being selectively depressed down, actuates the embossing mechanism so that the embossing mechanism can automatically emboss individual letters to form desired or selected words and/or other information. Although various other materials may be embossed in the embossing machine of the invention, in the illustrated embodiment, the material on which words and/or informations are embossed comprises a laminated synthetic resin tape T.

The output shaft 6 of the electric motor 2 is continuously rotated and has a pulley 7 mounted thereon and the embossing mechanism 3 includes a hollow main cam shaft 8 in which a sleeve 19 is received (FIG. 2). A pair of support members 46 and 46' are provided at the opposite ends of a core rod 9" received within the sleeve 19 in abutment thereagainst. A pair of substantially hollow stub shafts 9 and 9' are provided at the outer ends of the support members 46, 46' respectively and extend into the respectively associated support members. A pulley I0 is mounted at the outer end of one of the stub shafts 9 and an endless member II is trained over the pulley I0 and the pulley 7 on the output shaft 6 of the electric motor 2 so as to continuously rotate the main cam shaft 8. The solid core member 9" extends within the sleeve 19 and has a reduced diameter at its opposite ends which extend and fit in the associated support members 46 and 46', respectively. Accordingly, the core member 9" connects the stub shafts 9 and 9' together through the support members 46 and 46'. The stub shaft 9 has an embossing cam 12, a brake cam 13 affixed with the embossing cam 13 and a sun gear 14 constituting a planetary gear mechanism mounted thereon. The sun gear 14 is in engagement with three planetary gears 17 (FIG. 6) which are mounted on their respective shafts 16 which in turn pass through openings in a flange which surrounds the stub shaft 9 (FIG. 2). The planetary gears 17 are in turn in engagement with an internal gear 18 which is fixed to with the main cam shaft 8. Thus, the rotation rate of the stub shaft 9 interlocked with the motor 2 is reduced through the planetary gear mechanism and the reduced rotation is then transmitted to the main cam shaft 8. The sun gear 14 is continuously rotated by the electric motor 2. As the sun gear 14 is continuously rotated, the planetary gears 17 which mesh with the sun gear 14 will also rotate. In accordance with known principles of operation of planetary gear mechanisms, as the planetary gears 17 rotate, they will either cause rotation of the internal gear 18 or rotation of the flange 15. The rotation of internal gear 18 or flange 15 will depend on different operating conditions as will be discussed in greater detail hereinafter. Thus, the internal gear 18 is connected on the inner side to the sleeve 19 suitably fixed to the cam shaft 8 and the cam shaft 8 continuously rotates right below pins 22 which are respectively integrally formed with their associated push buttons 5 which are normally held above the cam shaft 8 at a suitable distance by means of upper and lower spaced parallel plates 20 and 21 (FIG. 2). The push buttons 5 bear different letters, numerals and other in dicia, respectively. When a selected one of the push buttons 5 is depressed down, its associated pin 22 reaches its predetermined lowest position where the pin contacts the associated one of a plurality of earns 23 on the main cam shaft 8, thereby halting rotation of the cam shaft 8. The earns 23 are mounted on the main cam shaft 8 in different eccentric relationships to the axis of the cam shaft 8. The brake cam 13 and embossing cam 12 are fixedly mounted on the flange 15 in juxtaposed relationship. The brake cam 13 is engaged by a brake roller 24 rotatably supported at one end of an arm 47 (FIG. 7) the other end of which is supported at one end of a shaft 48 which also has another arm 59 fixedly mounted (FIG. 1) at a point spaced inwardly of the arm 47 and a spring 25 is anchored at one end of the arm 59 so as to normally prevent the flange 15 from rotating.

The end of the main cam shaft 8 opposite from the end at which the pulley 10 is mounted has an embossing wheel assembly 26 of which description will be made hereinafter fixedly mounted for continuous rotation together with the main cam shaft 8. As shown in FIGS. 9 through 11, the embossing wheel assembly 26 comprises an inner plastic circular anvil disc 26a and an outer flexible plastic circular wheel disc 26b spaced from the anvil disc 260 with the space 50 existing therebetween. The boss is formed on the inner surface of the embossing wheel 26b and suitably connected to the mating boss formed on the outer surface of the anvil disc 26a so as to provide the space 50. The circular wheel disc 26b is thinner than the anvil disc 26a and cut at equally spaced slots 26c from the center boss to provide a plurality of leaf pieces 26b which are adapted to separately flex upon application of force thereon. The leaf pieces 26b correspond in number to that of the rows of push buttons 5 and each leaf piece has on its inner surface a peripheral raised letter, numeral or symbol type 49 which cooperates with the associated one of the plurality of push buttons 5 in embossing its letter, numeral or symbol on the tape T. The anvil disc 26a also has on its outer surface a plurality of circumferentially disposed recessed letters, numerals and symbols 49' each corresponding to the raised type on each of the leaf pieces 26b. A tape guide plate extends horizontally in the space 50 between the anvil disc 26a and wheel disc 26b and the opposite ends of the guide plate are secured to support members 71 and 72 which are in turn suitably mounted on the machine frame 1. The guide plate 70 has a window 70' which exposes an area of the tape T to be embossed to the corresponding raised and recessed types on the anvil and wheel discs 26a and 26b corresponding to the selected or depressed push button 5 so as to emboss the letter, numeral or symbol on the tape T in the manner as will be described hereinafter.

The embossing wheel assembly 26 is detachably mounted on the stub shaft 9'.

As more clearly shown in FIGS. 2 through 5, each of the pins 22 integral with the associated push buttons 5 has an upper annular notch 27 and a lower annular notch 28 spaced from and below the upper notch 27 and a spring 29 extends between the push button 5 and the upper plate 20 to normally hold the push button in its uppermost position in which a holding plate 44 positioned between the upper and lower plates 20 and 21 is received in the lower notch 28 in the pin 22. When a selected push button 5 with the holding plate 44 associated with the selected push button positioned in the lower notch 28 in the pin 22 of the particular push button is depressed down, the holding plate 44 is easily forced out of the notch 28. Since the notch 28 is upwardly tapered, the holding plate 44 is easily moved out of the notch 28. As the selected push button 5 is further depressed down after the holding plate 44 has been moved out of the lower notch 28 in the pin 22 associated with the selected push button until the upper notch 27 in the same pin 22 is positioned at the height of the holding plate 44 whereupon the holding plate 44 enters the upper notch 27 whereupon the pin 22 is stopped and held in its lowest position. When the raised portion 23 of a particular cam associated with the particular depressed push button 5 of the earns 23 of the main cam shaft 8 engages the pin 22 of the push button which is now in its lowest position (FIG. 5), the cam shaft 8 is stopped its rotation and thus, the embossing wheel assembly 26 is also stopped its rotation. With the wheel assembly 26 held stationary, one leaf piece 26b corresponding to the selected push button 5 is flexed inwardly by an embossing bar of which a description will be made hereinafter and the flexed leaf piece 26b in turn abuts against the area of the anvil disc 26a cor responding to the flexed leaf piece 26b whereby the types on the leaf piece of the embossing wheel disc and the corresponding area of the anvil disc cooperate with each other in embossing the particular letter or other indicia represented by the types at an area of the tape T where is exposed to the types through the window 70 in the guide plate 70.

In the illustrated embodiment (FIG. 12), forty push button pin assemblies 5 and 22 are arranged in four longitudinal rows as seen in the axial direction of the cam shaft each comprising push button pin assemblies extending in parallel to the axis of the cam shaft 8 (FIG. 1) and in 10 transverse rows as seen in the direction transversely of the axis of the cam shaft each comprising four. The four longitudinal rows of push button pin assemblies 5 and 22 extend radially from the axis of the cam shaft 8 at an equal distance (FIG. 5). The main cam shaft 8 carries l0 cams 23 thereon in an equally spaced relationship along the length of the cam shaft and the cams are differently eccentrically arranged relative to the axis of the cam shaft 8 with their raised or cam portions 23' positioned at different angles with respect to the four associated push button pin assemblies 5 and 22 in each transverse row. The wheel assembly 26 is held in its selected position depending upon the depressed push button 5. After a selected push button is depressed down to select a letter or other indicia to be embossed on the tape T, the embossing operation is initiated. Since the cam shaft 8 is stopped its rotation upon the selected push button 5 being depressed down and thus, the internal gear 18 fixedly mounted on the cam shaft 8 is also stopped while the sun gear 14 is rotated and the rotation of the sun gear in turn rotates the flange 15 in which the planetary gears 17 are supported and the brake cam 13 against the action of the brake roller 24 resulting in rotation of the embossing cam 12. The cams l2 and 13 rotate together in the counter-clockwise direction as seen FIGS. 7 and 8. As the earns 12 and 13 rotate in the above-mentioned direction, they first engage and push an embossing roller 30 against the force of a spring 51 which has one end anchored to the machine frame 1 so as to rotate a roller shaft 31 which extends parallel to the main cam shaft 8 and shaft 48 and adjacent one or the left hand end of which the embossing roller 30 is fixedly mounted. The other end of the spring 51 is anchored to an arm 52 which is in turn fixedly mounted on the roller shaft 31 in an intermediate position between the opposite ends of the associated shafts. The above-mentioned embossing roller 30 is attached to the roller shaft 31 by means of an arm 32. The embossing operation is effected by the swinging movement of the tip point or free end of the arm 32.

When the point A on the embossing cam 12 reaches the embossing roller 30, one cycle of embossing operation by the embossing machine terminates whereupon the roller shaft 31 immediately returns to its initial position. For the purpose, the embossing cam 12 is formed with a flat cut surface 12' on the trailing side of the cam with respect to the rotational direction thereof.

When the embossing mechanism including the embossing cam 12, embossing roller 30 and shaft 31 has returned to their initial position, the tape feed mechanism is actuated and at the same time, the previously selected or depressed push button 5 is allowed to return to its initial position or uppermost position. For the purpose, a shaft 33 is provided in parallel to the main cam shaft 8 and cam shaft 31 and has a feed roller 43 mounted thereon. As the embossing cam 12 rotates in the counterclock direction as seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 until the point A on the cam 12 reaches the embossing roller 30, one cycle of embossing operation terminates and the cam 12 returns to its initial position whereupon the shaft 33 having the feed roller 43 thereon is rotated. The feed of the tape T and the return of the selected or depressed push button 5 is effected by the swing movement of an arm 34 which has one end supported on the shaft 33 and the other end supporting the feed roller 43. The tape feed mechanism will be described hereinafter in detail.

A description of the construction of the embossing mechanism follows. The actuation lever or arm 32 is fixedly secured to one or the left-hand end of the roller shaft 31 on which the embossing roller is mounted and the swinging movement of the arm 32 cooperates with the swing movement of an arm 53 (FIG. 1) mounted at the other end of the shaft 31 in such a manner that the center of a toggle link 36 connected to the arm 53 by means of a connection piece 35 is pulled in the arrow X direction as seen in FIG. 1. The toggle link 36 is fixedly secured at one end to the machine frame 1 by means of an anchor piece 54 and the other end of the toggle link is connected to an actuation link 37 which is adapted to move in the arrow Y direction as shown in FIG. 1. As the link 37 moves in the arrow direction, an actuation pin 38 (FIGS. 1 and 3) secured to the other or outer end of the link 37 pushes an embossing bar 39 at the lower end of the latter whereupon the embossing bar is pivoted about its transverse pin 40 so as to move the upper end of the embossing bar 39 in the arrow Z direction as shown in FIG. 3 whereby a pusher member 56 at the upper end of a leaf spring is pushed by an adjusting screw 41 received in the upper end of the embossing bar 39 with a sufficient force to apply one leaf piece 26b corresponding to the selected or depressed push button 5 against the exposed area of the tape which is also forced against the area of the abutment disc 26a corresponding to the flexed leaf piece 26b and in this way, the cooperating leaf piece and abutment disc area emboss a letter, numeral or other indicia at the exposed area on the tape T. The embossing force provided by the embossing and anvil discs 26a and 26b can be easily adjusted by adjusting an adjusting screw nut assembly 41 threaded on the threaded portion of the pusher member 56. The adjusting screw nut assembly 41 also can accommodate wear on the types of the embossing wheel assembly 26 which will otherwise reduce the embossing force to an insufficient level for embossing the tape. In FIGS. 1 and 3 numeral 67 denotes an abutment member which supports the embossing assembly 26 against the displacement of the assembly under the embossing force imparted thereto by the embossing bar 56.

Referring now to FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings which shows the intermittent tape feed mechanism of the embossing machine of the invention. The tape T is fed by the utilization of the swing movement of the tip or free end of the arm 34 mounted at one end of the shaft 33 on which the feed roller 43 is also mounted. More particularly, the feed roller support shaft 33 has a pull member 58 fixedly mounted thereon and to which pull member one end of a spring 57 is anchored. An operation arm 60 is mounted at one end on the shaft 33 and connected at the other end to an intermediate lever 61 which is pivoted an intermediate point of to a swing lever 62 (FIGS. 1 and 4) to which a pawl bar 66 is pivoted for movement back and forth in the arrow S direction as shown in FIG. 1 so as to rotate a ratchet wheel integral with one feed roller 64 of a pair of pinch rollers 63, 64 whereby the tape T is fed incrementally between the pair of pinch rollers 63 and 64. The tape feed mechanism described just above may be replaced by a non-illustrated manual tape feed mechanism without departing from the scope of the invention in which the manual tape feed mechanism is actuated by an operation lever 73. When the lever 73 is manually rotated, the shaft 33 is rotated thereby so as to manually feed the tape T in increment. One cycle of tape embossing operation is completed by firstly depressing a selected push button 5, feeding the tape by a predetermined distance and returning the movable parts to their respective initial positions. During one cycle of embossing operation, the pin 22 associated with the selected or depressed push button 5, but as the embossing cycle has completed, the pin 22 is subjected to the rotatative reaction force of the embossing cam. In other works, even after the embossing cycle has completed since the lower end of the particular pin 22 still engages the raised portion 23' on the associated cam 23 with a depression force, only by dislodging the retention plate 44 out of the annular notch 27 in the pin 22, the slight upward returning force afforded by the spring 29 associated with the selected pushbutton pin assembly and 22 is insufficient to push the assembly upwardly to its initial or uppermost position. Therefore, the swinging movement of the free end of the arm 34 mounted on the feed roller support shaft 33 easily dislodges the retaining plate 44 which holds the selected button pin assembly 5 and 22 out of the upper annular notch 27 and as shown in FIG. 8. Just after the point A of the embossing cam 12 contacts the feed roller 43, the pressure present between the raised portion 23' of the cam 23 and the pin 22 is removed whereby the pin 22 is completely freed to return upwardly to its initial position rapidly.

The manner by which pressure present between the raised portion 23 in the particular cam 23 is removed will be seen from FIG. 5. Since the main cam shaft 8 has torque in the arrow direction as shown in FIG. 5, it is only necessary to impart a momentary reverse force to the main cam shaft 8. The condition in which the point A of the embossing cam 12 contacts the feed roller 43 is shown in FIG. 7. Since as previously de scribed, the arm 47 is biased by spring 25, when the point B on the braking cam 13 just passes the roller 24, the roller 24 of the biased arm 47 bears against the section of the flat surface portion 13' adjacent point B and applies a biasing force to the brake cam 13 causing a momentary increase in rotational speed of the brake cam 13. Thus the brake roller 24 pushes the brake cam 13 on its flat surface portion 13' with respect to the rotational direction of the cam against the flange 15 for the planetary gears with a strong force, the rotational speed of the flange 15 is momentarily increased. That is, the normal rotation ratio of one-fourth for the planetary gears 17 to that of the sun gear is momentarily increased to one-third or one-half. Thus, the main cam shaft 8 is reversed in the rotational direction on the part of the internal gear 18 by the difference in the rotation ratio.

In order to advance the tape T after a selected or desired information comprising a number of letters. nu metals and/or symbols has been embossed on the tape. a the previously mentioned manual lever 73 FIG. 12 is pivotally mounted on the machine frame l.

With the above-mentioned construction and arrangements of the parts of the embossing machine of the invention, the machine can be constructed with a relatively smaller size and the machine can emboss a web material in a quite simple manner and particularly, suitable for embossing a tape.

While the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that modifications and variations may be made without departing from what is regarded to be the subject matter of the invention as defined by the attached claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical indicia embossing machine comprising a housing, a drive motor mounted on said housing, a cam shaft rotatably mounted on said housing, a planetary gear operably connected between said drive motor and said cam shaft, said planetary gear including a sun gear and internal gear, said sun gear being driven by said motor, said internal gear being afiixed to said cam shaft, a flange mounting intermediate planetary gears in a position interposed between said sun gear and said internal gear, an embossing cam and a braking cam affixed to said flange for rotation together with said planetary gear, indicia carrying members and an embossing member operably associated with said cam shaft such that the rotational position of said cam shaft determines selected operable positions of said carrying members, indicia selection members including a plurality of spaced pushbutton assemblies each including a push-button pin slidably mounted on said housing, said cam shaft having a plurality of actuating cams having engaging surfaces disposed at different angular dispositions relative to the axis of said earn shaft and adapted to be engaged by said push-button pins when selected push-button pins are depressed, the number of said push-button assemblies being greater than the number of said actuating cams, said push-button assemblies being operable to halt the rotary movement of said cam shaft in a position corresponding to the selected indi cia, said drive motor continuously rotating said cam shaft until said continuous rotation is interrupted by depression of said selected push-button pin whereupon said carn shaft halts its rotary movement in a position corresponding to the selected indicia, web feeding means for intermittently feeding a web material to said embossing means, a first operable mechanism between said embossing cam and said carrying members operable to actuate said embossing member to emboss a selected indicia onto said web when said cam shaft has been halted, a second operable connection between said embossing cam and said web feeding means operable to actuate said web feeding means after said em bossing member has been actuated and while said cam shaft is still halted, and biasing mechanism applying a biasing force against said braking cam and operable to effect a momentary increase in rotatational speed of said braking cam as a predetermined cam profile is encountered. whereby said cam shaft makes a corresponding reverse rotational movement to effect release of the engagement between said push-button pins and said actuating cams on said cam shaft.

2. An electrical indicia embossing machine according to claim 1 wherein said push-button assemblies are disposed in jLHIltPUSCLl rows parallel to the axis of said cam shaft and arranged to provide traverse rows,

whereby there is one actuating cam for each traverse TOW.

3. An electrical indicia embossing machine according to claim 2 wherein there are provided ten actuating cams on said cam shaft. and four longitudinal rows of push-button assemblies with four push-button assemblies in each traverse row. each traverse row of pushbutton assemblies being associated with one actuating cum.

4. An electrical indicia embossing machine according to claim 1 wherein said indicia carrying members includes a stiff plastic anvil disc having a plurality of equally spaced recessed indicia in the peripheral portion thereof and a second thinner plastic flexible em- (ill bossing disc having a plurality of separate leaf pieces provided with raised indicia, said second disc being disposed in spaced and parallel disposition relative to said anvil disc, the number of said leaf pieces corresponding to that of the recessed indicia in said anvil disc so that each raised indicia cooperates with an opposed recessed indicia in said anvil disc to emboss said indicia in said web of material.

5. An electrical indicia embossing machine according to claim 4 including a guide plate disposed between said anvil disc and said second disc for guiding said web between said two discs, said guide plate having a window at which embossing of said web is effected. 

1. An electrical indicia embossing machine comprising a housing, a drive motor mounted on said housing, a cam shaft rotatably mounted on said housing, a planetary gear operably connected between said drive motor and said cam shaft, said planetary gear including a sun gear and internal gear, said sun gear being driven by said motor, said internal gear being affixed to said cam shaft, a flange mounting intermediate planetary gears in a position interposed between said sun gear and said internal gear, an embossing cam and a braking cam affixed to said flange for rotation together with said planetary gear, indicia carrying members and an embossing member operably associated with said cam shaft such that the rotational position of said cam shaft determines selected operable positions of said carrying members, indicia selection members including a plurality of spaced pushbutton assemblies each including a push-button pin slidably mounted on said housing, said cam shaft having a plurality of actuating cams having engaging surfaces disposed at different angular dispositions relative to the axis of said cam shaft and adapted to be engaged by said push-button pins when selected push-button pins are depressed, the number of said push-button assemblies being greater than the number of said actuating cams, said push-button assemblies being operable to halt the rotary movement of said cam shaft in a position corresponding to the selectEd indicia, said drive motor continuously rotating said cam shaft until said continuous rotation is interrupted by depression of said selected push-button pin whereupon said cam shaft halts its rotary movement in a position corresponding to the selected indicia, web feeding means for intermittently feeding a web material to said embossing means, a first operable mechanism between said embossing cam and said carrying members operable to actuate said embossing member to emboss a selected indicia onto said web when said cam shaft has been halted, a second operable connection between said embossing cam and said web feeding means operable to actuate said web feeding means after said embossing member has been actuated and while said cam shaft is still halted, and biasing mechanism applying a biasing force against said braking cam and operable to effect a momentary increase in rotatational speed of said braking cam as a predetermined cam profile is encountered, whereby said cam shaft makes a corresponding reverse rotational movement to effect release of the engagement between said push-button pins and said actuating cams on said cam shaft.
 2. An electrical indicia embossing machine according to claim 1 wherein said push-button assemblies are disposed in juxtaposed rows parallel to the axis of said cam shaft and arranged to provide traverse rows, whereby there is one actuating cam for each traverse row.
 3. An electrical indicia embossing machine according to claim 2 wherein there are provided ten actuating cams on said cam shaft, and four longitudinal rows of push-button assemblies with four push-button assemblies in each traverse row, each traverse row of push-button assemblies being associated with one actuating cam.
 4. An electrical indicia embossing machine according to claim 1 wherein said indicia carrying members includes a stiff plastic anvil disc having a plurality of equally spaced recessed indicia in the peripheral portion thereof and a second thinner plastic flexible embossing disc having a plurality of separate leaf pieces provided with raised indicia, said second disc being disposed in spaced and parallel disposition relative to said anvil disc, the number of said leaf pieces corresponding to that of the recessed indicia in said anvil disc so that each raised indicia cooperates with an opposed recessed indicia in said anvil disc to emboss said indicia in said web of material.
 5. An electrical indicia embossing machine according to claim 4 including a guide plate disposed between said anvil disc and said second disc for guiding said web between said two discs, said guide plate having a window at which embossing of said web is effected. 